ORME , Tennessee -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The drought in the Southeastern United States means more than just brown lawns to the folks in Orme , Tennessee . Water flows from their taps for just three hours each evening .

A 1961 firetruck loads up with water from a hydrant in Alabama to haul back to Orme , Tennessee .

The mountain spring that supplies water to the town usually dries up at the end of summer , but just for a few days . This year it dried up early , on August 1 , and has n't revived , leaving the town 's 145 residents high and dry and relying on water trucked in from the next state .

Every day at 6 p.m. , Orme Mayor Tony Reames turns a big valve to release water from the town 's tank . When he turns the crank again at 9 p.m. , taps in the town run dry .

`` When they cut it back on we jump for joy , '' Orme resident Debbie Cash said . `` And then you only have it for three hours . ''

Three hours to do all the laundry , bathing , dishwashing and animal watering that has to be done . Watch how Cash copes ''

The old mining town could be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the region . Just 150 miles to the southeast , the 4.5 million people who live in and around Atlanta , Georgia , are nervously watching water levels go down at their major reservoir . The drought has highlighted an ongoing struggle between Georgia , Alabama and Florida over rights to water from the Chattahoochee River .

`` All of these people that are on the river systems better take note , because once your streams and tributaries to the river start drying up , the river is n't far behind , '' Reames said . See photos of a Atlanta 's shrinking Lake Lanier reservoir ''

Volunteers take turns three days a week driving a tanker truck or Orme 's diesel-belching 1961 fire truck to a hydrant near Bridgeport , Alabama , 2 1/2 miles down the road . Making several round trips , they haul about 25,000 gallons of water back to Orme each day .

Bridgeport , which gets its water from the Tennessee River , does n't charge its neighbor . Stevenson and New Hope , Alabama , also help out , occasionally bringing trucks full of water to the hydrant , where it 's transferred to the Orme trucks . See where Orme has to go for water ''

But things are looking up in Orme . A pipeline from Bridgeport is nearly complete , built with the help of a $ 378,000 grant from the federal government .

`` With this new water coming in , then we 'll have it made , '' Cash said . `` Now we wo n't have to worry about it no more . ''

In addition , an Austin , Texas , company called H2O Guard is planning to donate water-saving sink aerators , shower heads and toilet valves to everyone in Orme on November 17 , company spokesman Robert Easter said .

`` We think we 're going to get another 90 gallons ' savings per day per household , '' Easter said . `` That 'll make that little water tower in that town go from three hours to four hours without any change in anyone 's habits . ''

Reames said residents have found creative ways to conserve , flushing toilets with condensation water from air conditioners and undrinkable water from swimming pools that were filled early in the summer .

It 's a lesson for everyone .

`` Cherish the water you got and be kind of careful with it , '' Cash said , `` because you never know if you will be out of water . '' E-mail to a friend

CNN 's Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report .

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Orme , Tennessee , has running water from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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Town 's spring ran dry in midst of Southeast drought

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Donated water is trucked in from Alabama

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Completion of pipeline will solve problem for good